Reaching for Tomorrow
by Facade15
Summary: The world may have changed forever when the magical council was destroyed, but it only really hit home for Fairy Tail in particular when Freed collapsed through the Guild Hall doors, faltering under his teammates' weight and calling out desperately for help. (Or, a collection of scenes and one-shots centred around the Thunder Legion, set during and after the Tartaros Arc.)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters.**

_xxx_

_Day one. _

Much Later, when Freed would come to look back on his harrowing experience with bane particle poisoning, he would acknowledge that most of it blurred into one awful mass of memory: the sensation of something being terribly wrong with him, the struggle to get enough oxygen into his failing lungs and the distant but audible sound of troubled breathing that echoed his, reminding him that his team was facing the exact same fate as he was.

But, even though most of it would merge together, there was one part that stood out. He would remember, with alarming clarity, the weight of his teammates in his arms, on his back. He would remember Evergreen and Bickslow's hurt whimpers, the rattling in Laxus' lungs, the pained grimaces twisting all of their faces. And he would remember carrying them home – a herculean task in his condition, but it had been the very last thing Laxus had asked him to do, and dammitall since Laxus had sacrificed himself to save the entire town, Freed could suffer a little to get the three of them home.

(_It hadn't just been a little – seconds had dragged on for hours, the prospect of taking another step had felt as impossible as_ _hurdling a mountain, but if Freed gave up, then there would have been no one to take them home. And they _had _to make it home.)_

At the time though, he didn't have the energy to focus on anything other than putting one foot in front of the other. He was using his _dark écriture: darkness_, and the drain on his magical energy was unbelievable. More unbelievable was that he was able to use it all, considering the bane particle poisoning, but he didn't have much of a choice.

Like all Fairy Tail members, he was at his best when defending others, but despite this his thoughts were making less and less sense, and it was only instinct and habit that was leading his feet in the right direction. It was a relief, therefore, when he recognised the building up ahead.

With the last of his energy, he collapsed through the door.

He had Laxus draped over his shoulders – literally the only way he could carry the man, considering he was so much bigger than Freed, and indeed most of the people in Fairy Tail. Bickslow and Evergreen, as well as Yajima – because never let it be said that Freed wasn't an overachiever – he had hanging from his arms at his sides, and when he fell, they went down with him, so he had one arm laying limply over Ever's stomach, one over Bickslow, and was slowly being crushed by Laxus. Which, normally, he'd think could be worse – but he couldn't _breathe. _

Breathing had been enough of a struggle before, with the bane particles slowly destroying him from the inside out, but with Laxus' considerable mass bearing down on him…

"_Help!" _He managed to wheeze out, frantically trying to pull oxygen into unwilling lungs.

He heard panicked cries, and then the weight on his back was lifted, and he felt himself be rolled onto his side – breathing became a little easier, suddenly. His demonic form melted away completely, and he coughed violently.

"Oh – _Freed!" _Mira exclaimed, falling to her knees next to the downed group. He focused on her face – white hair framing fearful features, beautiful by any measure and a huge relief to him. Because Mira was an integral part of Fairy Tail, and if she was here, then he had _made it. _

"H-help. Help them." He stammered out between coughs, the world tilting dangerously as colours blurred together awfully. It felt like gravity suddenly reversed, and in a panic he reached for something to grab onto, to anchor himself to the ground as it flipped. He latched onto something – a hand; it was gripping back. The white of Mira's hair washed away as if it was being smeared by a paintbrush on a canvas, and other colours – pink, black, yellow, blue… all washed across his vision.

Then they were overwhelmed by darkness.

_xxx_

It hard been a relatively normal day at the Guild. In fact, the only thing to distinguish it from any other day had been the concerned murmurs about the Council, but since there had been nothing anyone in Fairy Tail could do, most people were just going about their usual routine.

When Freed came crashing through the doors in a state of extreme distress, with his teammates in his arms, he caused immediate widespread panic. The closest wizards – Macao, Wakaba and Warren - had lunged to catch them, but weren't quite fast enough to prevent the four wizards from hitting the floor.

There had been exclamations and shouts, and then everyone was rushing over. A path automatically cleared itself for Mirajane, and she hurriedly dropped to her knees by Freed's head, since he was the only one conscious. Although he wouldn't be for long, if they didn't shift Laxus.

"What did this to them?" Lucy cried, pressing fingers to Evergreen's wrist, giving a worried look at what she found.

"Whatever it was, it wasn't manly," Elfman growled, anger seeping into his voice even while his hands on Laxus stayed gentle as he rolled the lightning man off his smaller teammate.

"H-help. Help them," Freed managed, even as a fierce cough wracked his body. Mira ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't worry, we've got you," she said reassuringly, taking his hand as it jerked and looking up, a determined look painted on her face. "Get them to the infirmary this minute! Warren, contact Porlyusica, tell her she is needed immediately!"

Then she activated her own takeover magic so she could lift Freed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elfman pick up Evergreen – the young woman's body seemed tiny in his arms. Macao and Wakaba had Bickslow, while Natsu and Gray had each hefted one of Laxus' arms over their shoulders, pulling him up, while Erza rushed to help. The look on Natsu's face in particular made her heart clench – it was a distressing mix between anger at whatever had done this, and a strange sort of betrayal that _Laxus, _who was ever so strong, was in this condition.

Natsu would never refuse to help a guildmate in need, but she knew there some he had never expected to have to.

"Is Wendy here?" Mira called, hoping no one could hear the desperation in her voice. But they needed all the help they could get. The Thunder Legion was in such bad shape.

"I'm here!" The girl called out, running across the room. She fell in step with Mira and raised her hands to Freed. Mira shook her head.

"Start with Laxus – he's the worst case." She told her, shooting the dragonslayer a worried look. He really was – while none of them were doing well, Laxus was a sickening shade of grey, and his breaths came in short, pained gasps that kept terrifying her with their irregularity. His shaking was so much worse too.

Wendy nodded, thankfully not questioning her authority – she hoped Freed would forgive her when he woke up.

_(She knew he would. If he had been awake, he would have insisted on treating Laxus first. He was, after all, devoted to him. Knowing that didn't make her feel better.)_

Wendy's hands were aglow with her magic as she held them over Laxus' chest. They stayed that way as they reached the infirmary, before she finally pulled back, and turned to Mirajane with tears in her eyes.

"I-I don't know! I've never seen anything like this before! My magic isn't working, and I – I don't know what to do!" She cried out.

Mira was increasingly aware of the steady hum of voices behind her, even though she had drowned them out as she worried about the sick wizards. Now the voices were raising – concerned remarks, scared comments… the entire guild was working itself into a panic.

Cana stepped forward. "What the hell is going on? What's wrong with them?" She demanded, and Mira knew it was fear for their friends that was responsible for colouring her voice with anger, but still…

"Lucy and Juvia, get wet cloths. Levy, go research anything with these kinds of symptoms. Jet, Droy, Cana – get out onto the streets and see if you can find out what happened. I want one person at least keeping an eye on each of them. Gray, get the master. Now."

"Who the hell made you queen? Mira, we need to know-"

"_I don't know!" _Mira finally hissed, pulling herself up to her full height. "None of us know! But I am the highest ranking wizard here, and I'm telling you – _go find out._" She took in the looks on their faces, and softened slightly. "We can get our answers later – first we save them. Now hurry!"

That got everyone to rush to their appointed jobs. After barely a few minutes, Mira thought she would go mad in the infirmary – her little sister's presence at her side helped soothe her, but then, her little brother's dead-eyed expression as he stood by Evergreen's bedside had the opposite effect. And it was clear just listening to them that the Thunder Legion was in a bad way.

The stillness was interrupted by the door bursting open, almost hard enough to break it straight off its hinges.

"LAXUS!"

As the master marched into the room, making a beeline for his grandson's bed, Mira almost expected Laxus to straighten up, a glower on his face and a salty response on his lips, like he always did. This time though, the only response he gave was a strangled cry as his body twisted on the bed.

She heard a sharp intake of breath as Makarov took a long look at the dragon slayer, and Mira knew he was seeing the same signs she herself had already noted, before turning to her.

"What's wrong with him? What happened? Why isn't he being healed?" Quickly, he looked over the rest of the beds, his expression darkening further. Blood or not, they were all his children, she knew.

"We don't know." She admitted. "We…"

Before she could finish, Cana took her turn to slam the door open. This time, the wood really did splinter in her urgency.

"Master!" She shouted, a wild look in her eyes. "It's – people are dying on the streets, it's a state of emergency! Some kind of poisonous mist! There are over fifty casualties already!" She reported. "They're putting a quarantine in place. It's pretty far, we should be fine here. I don't know how Freed made it, especially carrying those four."

Makarov's expression was steadily shutting down the more she spoke. When he answered, it was in a controlled, even tone.

No one was fooled.

"Is Porlyusica on her way?"

"Yes. Warren got in touch, she is coming as fast as she can." Mira answered, relieved despite herself that he was here and taking control. She helped, sure, but she wasn't the guildmaster. This was far beyond her regular duties.

That didn't mean her job here was done. Watching the master put a small hand on Laxus' much larger one, trying to calm the younger man's weak struggles, she felt her own heart wrench painfully. Then she walked back into the main guildhall.

The atmosphere was charged, and she felt all eyes on her as she walked in.

"The master is with them. All we can do is wait for Porlyusica." She told them.

"That can't be all we can do!" Gray argued, already standing in his underwear.

"We can't go to where the quarantine is. This was a mist; there's no one to beat up. What do you suggest?" That was Lucy, the situation sharpening her tone into a deadly point. Gray turned a cold glare her way, which she met evenly, but then Natsu interrupted.

"It was Tartaros. We all know it was." He stated, no trace of his usual cheer in his voice, and Mira was sure she felt the temperature in the room drop a few degrees in a way which had nothing to do with Gray's magic.

Thankfully, Erza stepped up. "That may be true, but we have no proof. Furthermore, even if we did, there is still so much information lacking. We need to find out what happened to the Thunder Legion. What took Laxus out."

Because that was the main question, wasn't? What was so powerful it took down an S-class dragon slayer, and left him on death's door?

As if on cue, the door swung open to reveal Porlyusica, her sharp eyes assessing them as they all rose and turned her way, their eyes brightening with cautious hope at the sight of her.

"Shut up. Leave me alone." She snapped, cutting off their greetings and exclamations, striding purposefully towards the infirmary. Erza and Mirajane fell in step after her, and soon everyone was trampling after her, squeezing into the infirmary and keeping out of her way she examined her patients.

Then they all heard about bane particle poisoning, and Freed woke up lucid enough to tell them what Laxus had done, what he had sacrificed himself for. Or what he had tried to, at least.

No one blamed the master for lying to Freed, but it was a twist to the knife that Tartaros had buried deep in their hearts.

For this, _for them, _Fairy Tail would go to war.

_xxx_

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to drop a comment if you have the time and inclination!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Day 2_

_Xxx_

Macao wondered, sometimes, how on earth his life had taken so many strange turns. After all, he wasn't a particularly strong wizard. He wasn't weak, but he knew he wasn't anything special.

So why the hell was he part of an assault on the darkest guild of them all – Tartaros?

There were a number of guild members with him – the people who lived and breathed for the guild, but that lacked the sheer power or skill that the more prominent members possessed. All of them wanted to help, but had limited options in the face of Tartaros' overwhelming might. However, even though he wasn't really cut out for this sort of thing, Macao was pretty sure about one thing regarding attacking enemy strongholds – you weren't supposed to bring your injured with you.

And yet, here he was, watching over the downed Thunder Legion – and Yajima – as the others fought.

Oh, he _knew, _of course, that Cana hadn't had a choice. That leaving them behind was so far from an option it wasn't even funny. Later, they were going to have to throw that girl a parade or something – her quick thinking and instant problem-solving had saved all of their lives. If Cana hadn't acted the way she did in those few seconds she had to spare before the whole place went up in flames, the entire Guild would be dead.

Still, some of the circumstances weren't ideal.

Macao was old enough to remember Laxus as a kid – at the time, he had been a young man, and had thought the boy was sweet and enthusiastic. But he also remembered the time before Ivan got his son the dragon lacrima. He hadn't been the healthiest kid around: he had been skinny, always a shade too pale and in and out of infirmaries.

This reminded him of those times, a little.

He had felt sorry for the boy back then, and he worried about him now. He couldn't help it; he was older – he had even gained a sudden seven years on the dragonslayer. And he had a son – worrying about kids wasn't something he could _not_ do anymore. Even when they were as tough as they come, and probably old enough to not count anymore.

He was distracted from his musings when Romeo called over. "Dad! I think I heard something!"

He was on his feet in a flash, and by his son's side in a mere moment. He put a hand on Romeo's shoulder (so he could shove him back if need be – he didn't mind Natsu being his kid's role model, but he would have preferred someone with a little more self-preservation) and watched the rubble around them carefully.

The others in the group picked up on his tense, nervous energy, and immediately doubled their own attentiveness. Everyone expected an attack to be imminent, and tensions ran high. But after a few minutes, nothing happened, and Macao felt his shoulders relax.

"Must have just been some rubble shifting." He murmured, patting his son's shoulder reassuringly.

Then he turned around, breathing a sigh of relief.

Then he _shrieked. _

Naturally everyone else did the same.

"What? Where?" Wakaba yelled, looking around frantically, as Romeo produced fires in both hands and dropped back into a battle stance.

But the problem wasn't coming from outside their group.

"Hang on, weren't there supposed to be five of them?" He asked, his voice going embarrassingly high-pitched as he pointed wildly at the unconscious mages. And, sure enough, one lightning dragonslayer was notable for his lack of presence. There was an empty space where the Guildmaster's grandson should have been.

Laxus was gone.

"Where the hell did Laxus go?" Wakaba bellowed, his gaze darting around wildly. Porlyusica hurried back over, eyes roving over the four remaining patients, before swearing, darkly and viciously, in a way that made both men stare in faint astonishment and Romeo listen in wonder.

Then the woman whirled on them, and they all recoiled a step.

"I can't emphasise this enough," she hissed, cold fury roiling in her eyes. "That man is _sick. _I'm not saying this for fun or to annoy you – his life could be endangered _more than it already is _if we don't get him back here!"

Wakaba and Macao exchanged worried looks. "Was he grabbed? How did we miss it?" Macao asked, looking around for signs of enemy action.

"Some kind of demon maybe? But why just take Laxus?"

"I swear, if they hurt him…" Wakaba growled, his cigar quivering with righteous fury. Until it almost fell from his lips when Porlyusica started swearing up a storm again, her voice so cold it could have turned a volcano into a glacier.

"I suppose this demon that took Laxus also took _his jacket." _

Everyone paused. But it was true – the coat that Laxus wore all the time was missing from where it had ended up, a little ways away from the group.

Macao wasn't even totally sure how it had come to be here – it wasn't like Laxus had been wearing it when Cana turned him into a card. His best guess was that Cana was so used to seeing him with it, that when she cast her spell it automatically picked it up as well. But now it was gone.

Wakaba slowly looked at the spot where the missing Laxus had been, to the spot where the missing coat had been.

"A demon wouldn't worry if Laxus was cold." Romeo commented, and Porlyusica gave him such an unimpressed look that Macao was offended on behalf of his son.

"You _think_?"

"So… our working theories," Wakaba interrupted, "are that a demon grabbed Laxus and his coat, in case… what, it affected his image? Or, a demon grabbed him and instead of alerting us or fighting back, Laxus snagged his coat on the way past." That one was unimaginable. If Laxus was in immediate danger, he wouldn't prioritise his appearance or worry about _getting a_ _chill_, he would fight back. It was just how he was. "Or…"

They all exchanged horrified looks.

"He got up and left."

"_That moron!" _Porlyusica screeched. "What the hell is wrong with you idiots – I should just have let all of you die the first time, saved us all some time and energy – why are you all so reckless and stupid? Why do you never _learn?"_

The boys shrunk back, feeling chastised even though they didn't think her words really applied to them. Then again though, they were also Fairy Tail through and through. Making questionable life choices was a big part of that.

"Well? _FIND HIM!" _Porlyusica shouted, rushing off to the side.

"YES MA'AM!" They chorused, moving off to look for him. He was poisoned, after all. How far could he go?

It turned out, he could go all the way. When Levy and Gajeel appeared, both with burdens on their backs, everyone was relieved. Then Gajeel filled them in on what Laxus had been up to – marching off to fight, challenging the same demon that had put him in this state to a one v one battle, powered by vengeful anger, sheer force of will and _nothing else, _risking it all to get the last ingredient for the antidote, before _winning_, and finally collapsing.

"Not sure how Makarov puts up with it – he would give me a heart attack if he was my grandson." Macao admitted quietly, as Porlyusica worked on the antidote. He turned and stabbed a finger at his own son. "Don't you ever think about doing something like that, you hear? You'll make my hair turn grey!"

"But dad," Romeo objected, his starstruck gaze fixed on the dragonslayer, "He's _amazing_."

Macao opened his mouth, before relenting with a heavy sigh. "You're not wrong. He's something else," he said quietly.

Laxus looked worse than ever now – the tremors that were wracking his frame had disappeared, but only because his body just didn't have the energy to spare, and his breathing had gone from bad to worse. But there was something, maybe in the lines of his face, that looked slightly different. Not more at ease, but – satisfied.

Macao felt a rueful laugh bubbling in his chest. Laxus sure as hell wasn't that bright-eyed kid that Macao remembered, whose face had lit up in awe the first time he held lightning in his hands – he had become something far, far more dangerous.

_xxx_

**A/N: There's chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed! Special thanks to everyone who has read this! xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: warnings for heavily implied Evergreen/Elfman, flashbacks and the author taking serious liberties with time and backstories. **

_xxx_

_Day 8_

When Evergreen opened her eyes, she wasn't happy about it. For one, everything _hurt. _She felt like she had been ran over by a particularly enthusiastic train. Breathing was a chore – her chest hurt, her throat hurt – what the hell had she _done? _And everything was both too bright and too blurry. She hadn't asked for this nonsense.

She must have made a sound – probably one of discomfort, because then there was a face looming in her field of vision. Her eyelids fluttered, trying to clear up the picture a little. It had – white hair.

That narrowed it down a little, at least.

Then the face jerked back, and she felt something being placed on her face– her specs. She did need those. She registered a soft murmuring sound that was starting to bother her – _oh, _he was speaking to her.

_He? _

"Elfman?" She murmured hoarsely, and _boy _did her voice sound ugly. No fairy queen here. A troll maybe. Urgh.

Then water was being pressed to her lips, and she supposed she couldn't refuse that. When it was removed, the world was a little clearer. She was still in pain, but she could ignore that. She could see now, properly – always nice. She tried to shuffle upright, and Elfman helped by lifting her shoulders and shoving pillows behind her.

She momentarily resenting him helping her, but quickly got over it by reminding herself that all queens had servants.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, voice uncharacteristically soft. She frowned, lifting a hand to rub at her head – which also hurt.

"Not great," she admitted. When she found whatever it was that had done this to her, she was going to kill it with a vengeance. That would show it. "What the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?" Elfman looked concerned, a look rarely shown on his macho face. "You don't remember the demon? Or the poison mist?"

"The…" She trailed off, thinking hard. It was coming back to her – helping out at mister Yajima's place, messing around with her team, then… a demon, losing, and _badly _at that, before Laxus showed up and kicked ass – as he was wont to do. And then – mist. Coughing. Pain. Darkness.

"I remember." She murmured, pressing a hand to her forehead, before looking up at Elfman. "What happened after I passed out? How did we get back here? And – how long has it been?"

Elfman swallowed hard. He had learned a lot about Evergreen since teaming up with her on Tenrou Island. She was strong, and possessed the kind of confidence and arrogance that the world bowed down to – if only because she whole-heartedly believed it should. She never approached things thinking she could lose, so seeing her now looking frail, and a little lost… maybe _frightened, _if that was a word he could ever associate with Evergreen – it hit him hard.

"Laxus inhaled most of the smoke," he told her, watching her eyes go impossibly wide, "to protect the town."

"Did it work?" She asked quickly, eyes wide and hopeful, and Elfman felt he could relate closely to what Makarov must have felt when Freed asked the same question. More than anything, he wanted to lie.

"Not entirely." He paused, looking down sadly. So many innocent lives lost, in the very town they were supposed to protect… "I don't like to think about how bad it would have been if he hadn't tried… but a lot of people still died."

Evergreen felt her lip tremble, before steeling herself. "Is he okay?" She asked, having to enunciate the words carefully so her voice wouldn't waver.

Elfman's lips tightened, and her heart jumped fearfully in her chest. "Elfman-" she snapped, leaning forward to grab his hands urgently.

"He's alive." Elfman responded quickly. "He's a real man – he was up for a bit before. Fought Tartaros, even. But since then, he's been out for the count. Porlyusica says he's touch and go."

Saying the words felt like pulling teeth – but it was still not as awful as seeing Evergreen's desolate expression as she looked around and noticed all her comrades in beds just like hers, all unconscious.

"Oh, god…" She murmured, reaching towards Freed, who was closest.

"Freed carried you guys back after the attack. He's… dammit, you're all manly." Elfman said, tears in his own eyes.

"Of course he did, he's always like that." Ever said distantly, before snapping her attention back to Elfman. "And shut up with that manly stuff – it's ridiculous!"

It was a solid attempt at sounding normal, but it fell flat. Nothing about this was normal after all. But she jabbed a finger into Elfman's solid chest anyway.

"You said Laxus fought Tartaros? Tell me everything. Right now." It was a demand, not a request, and Elfman delivered.

He told her about Porlyusica's dire words regarding their survival, he told her about the councilmen being exterminated, he told her about the various Fairy Tail members' kidnappings. He even told her about his own mistakes and shame. Then he described the attacks on Tartaros, the fights they had gone through, the Face activation. He told her about what Laxus had done, the lengths her teammate had gone to in order to ensure their recovery. And he told her about the dragons, and their victory.

When he was done, she sat in utter silence for a long time. Elfman sat with her, quietly for once, waiting for her verdict. When she spoke, it was surprisingly softly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help," she said sadly, twisting her hands. "And to see it, I suppose. The last dragons, huh?"

Mutely, he nodded. It had been a sight to behold – unimaginable power and beauty. Never to be witnessed again.

"I can't believe it." She murmured, before looking quickly to her team. "And the others – they're alright now, too?"

Elfman sighed. "We think so – Bickslow woke up yesterday for a while. He was worried about you guys too."

Ever green tutted and tossed her hair over her shoulder irritably. "Of course he did – what about Freed?"

"Hasn't woken up, but Porlyusica says he's looking good. Shouldn't be long now."

Evergreen gave a faint sigh of relief. "Well that's that then. If those two are okay – well, Laxus always bounces back. He'll be okay, too."

"You're that confident?" Elfman asked before he could censor himself. He quickly regretted the question as Ever shot him a sharp look, but she relented.

"It's… listen, the kind of power Laxus has… it makes people believe everything is going to be okay. He may not be nice about it, or kind, but when he shows up to a fight, you know you're going to win." She shrugged helplessly. "The world would be a much scarier place without Laxus in it. And that's how I know he'll be okay. He can be an asshole, but he makes it, every single time."

Elfman watched her carefully, before wording his question with caution. "You really care about him."

She rolled her eyes so hard he was sure she saw stars. "Obviously," she drawled, before casting an unreadable look at Laxus. She bit her lip, and looked back at Elfman. "Did I ever tell you how I met them? How I joined Fairy Tail?"

He blinked. Honestly, he was sure she had never told anyone. But Evergreen had a particular way of doing things, so he just shook his head. "Never."

She gave a tight-lipped smile. "It's not a great story, really." She hesitated, trying to figure out how to best tell it. "Well, the three of them were already teamed up. They were actually on a job when we met." She wavered, and Elfman was concerned when her shoulders dropped, as if she was giving up. "They were sent to stop a monster that was turning people to stone." She admitted, almost too quietly to be heard.

Elfman froze, and felt his heart skip a beat. "To stone?" He repeated.

She nodded wryly. "I wasn't… I didn't go out of my way to learn that magic. It just kicked in one day, when I was in trouble. I wasn't… _liked, _back then. A lot of people were scared of me. I didn't realise how much they hated me for it until someone hired Fairy Tail to take me out." She gave an unhappy laugh. "Joke's on them, of course. Fairy Tail doesn't kill people."

Elfman debated putting a hand over hers. If it was his sisters, he would know how to comfort them. But this was Evergreen, and she was unpredictable and unknown. But regardless of the unaffected front she was putting on, he was relatively sure she was upset.

He went for it. Just quickly – more like a pat than anything else. She looked down sharply, but didn't say anything about it. He relaxed minutely, and considered it a win.

"They split up to look for me, and Laxus found me. I had just transformed some drunkard, so it's not like he didn't know what I could do, but he just leaned against the alley wall, as if he didn't have a care in the world..."

_The teen – that's all he was, too, with short blond hair and a nasty scar on his cheek, sporting a very warm looking jacket – was leaning against the wall, unaffected by the snow and the cold. She would have hated him instantly – _she _was freezing – if there hadn't been an aura of… _something _around him. She wasn't sure about threatening, but certainly something. _

"_You want some too?" She spat harshly, reaching for her glasses. The teen just snorted. _

"_That's your power then? You turn people to stone?" He asked indifferently. She tensed. _

"_What of it?"_

_But he just shrugged. "Not bad, I guess. A bit limited, but dangerous."_

_She… wasn't sure if he was being flattering, or threatening. She took a step back. "What the hell do you want, you creep?"_

_He gave a short, hard laugh. "I'm here on a job. But I guess things are complicated now." He sounded a little put out, and the urge to run hit Evergreen harder than ever. _

_But she stayed. "Not my problem. I have enough of my own." _

_He took a step towards her, and she panicked. But she didn't dare turn away from him anymore. Now that he wasn't leaning, she could tell he was big for his age. A lot bigger than her. Faster, probably, too. She was short. If she ran, he could catch her. She needed to keep her eyes on him. _

"_Stay away from me!" She shrieked, gripping the arms of her glasses hard. "I'll turn you to stone! I don't give a damn!"_

_But incredibly, amazingly, the strange teen didn't falter. "You could try, I guess." He scoffed. And something about it made Evergreen… _stop.

_He wasn't afraid of her. He was the first person in her whole life to not run or attack her the moment he learnt about her powers. He wasn't even attacking her now – he had stopped, hands shoved in pockets and leaning most of his weight on one leg. Hell, he even had headphones on. He was just watching her, with a bored look on his face. _

_No one had ever not been afraid of her. _

_It made her pause, her grip on her specs slackening, enough for the teen to notice. His eyes narrowed, and he sighed. _

"_Geez." He huffed, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Look, I'm actually from a Guild – you could probably join it, if you wanted. It would be something to do." He gave a disdainful look to their surroundings. _

_But that wasn't what Evergreen's mind caught on to. "A guild?" She echoed, her heart dropping right to the bottom of her stomach. "You're – a dark guild?"_

That _made the teen stiffen, and for the first time she saw anger cross his face. _

"What? _Why the hell would you think that? What, you think I look evil or something? Why would you even go there_?"

_She reflexively took a step back. "Because why else would you want a monster like me?" She blurted, wincing as she stumbled over some garbage. _

_But luckily, the blond boy froze. "A mon- ah, shit." He scowled, and much to Evergreen's relief, backed up a few steps. "You're not a monster, you idiot. You've got magic, that's all."_

_She felt like she had somehow stepped into a parallel reality. "I… turn people to stone," she said slowly, against her better judgement. _

_The boy shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really care about that. Although…" he poked the nearby statue. "I guess I am curious. Are they still alive?" _

_Evergreen shook slightly. "Yes, I… I think." She admitted quietly. _

_As far as she knew, she hadn't killed anyone yet. But it wasn't like she had trained or anything, or understood the specifics of how her magic worked._

_He raised an eyebrow. "You think? You might want to be certain. Can't use a weapon properly if you don't know what it does."_

_She stared dumbly. He stared back, impatience flickering across his features. Eventually, he sighed._

"_Okay – see this?" He held up a piece of paper, and from where she was she could only pick out a few words – _monster, _and _stone. _She gulped, and tensed up, prepared to use her magic on him. _

_Then he crumpled the paper, ignoring her embarrassing squeak as he did so, before tossing it to the ground and stepping on it for good measure. _

"_What the hell do they know, anyway? They don't know you! They're cowards who are just afraid because they can't take it! What gives them the right?"_

_His shoulders shuddered with anger for a moment, as he ground his heel into the paper, reducing it to a smear on the ground, before he breathed out and turned his piercing gaze on her. _

"_I'm not with a dark guild. It's a legit guild – Fairy Tail, see?" He bared his emblem, and she had to admit it looked real. _

_But that wasn't what caught most of her attention. _

"_F-fairy Tail? Did you say… Fairies?"_

_The boy frowned. "Yeah, so?"_

_Evergreen probably wouldn't have been able to put into words how much fairies meant to her. Graceful and beautiful and magical and definitely not evil monsters with terrifying powers. Even if she could have explained how much she wanted to be a fairy, something told her this boy wouldn't really want to listen anyway, so she didn't bother._

"_Then… then why do you want me?" She asked instead, half-curious, half-suspicious. The teen just shrugged. _

"_Why not? You're pretty powerful, it looks like. Do I need a better reason?"_

_Part of her wanted to say _yes, _he needed a reason that actually made sense to her rather than expecting her to believe this semi-altruistic rubbish. But the boy didn't seem the dishonest type. He gave the impression of being so confident he would never need to bullshit his way out of anything. _

_And anyway, what the hell did she have to lose?_

_Slowly, she lowered her hand from her specs. He watched her, and half turned away. _

"_You got a name?"_

"_It's Evergreen." _

"_Mine's Laxus." He turned away completely, and looked back at her over his shoulder. "You coming?" _

_With a deep breath, she followed him. _

"And you've been following him ever since?" Elfman asked, unable to take his eyes off her as she finished her story. She attempted a smirk.

"Sure have. All three of us have a pretty similar story, honestly. There are some differences in the details, but when you get right down to it, we all have the _scary_ magic." She wiggled her fingers mockingly. "Freed's got his _dark écriture_, Bickslow literally steals souls, and I turn people to stone. We were all alone and feared, and then Laxus came along with his untouchable attitude and just never bothered to be afraid. We couldn't help but follow him after that."

Elfman's brows lowered in contemplation. "Mira was a bit similar, actually. People thought she was possessed by a demon, and they used to attack her and chase us out of villages. I think… I think she was afraid of herself, as well." He chanced a look at Evergreen as he said it.

She tensed, but waved an airy hand at him. "Well, she'll need to run her application past Freed and Laxus if she wants to join," she half-joked. Elfman obligingly huffed a laugh, which made Ever smile slightly.

"But seriously," she sighed, "Your sister was lucky to have you, then. There's nothing worse than being afraid and alone. That's why I'll never leave Laxus – I don't care why he did it; if it was arrogance, stupidity or bravery. He didn't run from me."

Elfman nodded slowly. It sounded like she was giving him a heads-up. But then, he already knew how close the Thunder Legion was. Knowing _why _they were that way didn't change much.

"And for what its worth…" Evergreen pursed her lips, shooting him an uncharacteristically hesitant look before pushing on, "if I was ever forced to choose between them and the Guild, I honestly don't know which I would pick. So you shouldn't beat yourself up too much."

It was one of the most straightforwardly kind things Evergreen had ever said to him, and it floored him for a long moment while she avoided his gaze. But, he still shied away from thinking too hard about what had happened, so instead he focused on the rest of Evergreen's story – her own story that she had trusted him with.

"You really are amazing," he murmured under his breath, thinking about her life before the guild. Evergreen blinked wide eyes at him.

"What did you say?"

"I- uh! I said… that is really crazy! That you came this far!" He stammered out, hoping he wasn't turning too bright red. By the small smile curving her lips, he wasn't sure how successful he was.

"Right." Evergreen said, a hint of laughter in her voice. "Well, that's my story. Of course, even though I love those boys, I consider them to be like brothers to me."

"You do?" Elfman blurted. "I mean! Of course you do! How manly!"

This time Ever laughed for real, and even though it was at his expense, his heart still skipped a beat.

_xxx_

**A/N: My apologies for the delay. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: Still not_**_** mine**!_

_Day 13_

The Thunder Legion's recovery was a long, arduous process. Not just for them – with Porlyusica's help, they were bouncing back pretty quickly, all things considered, with the exception of Laxus, who had after all taken the brunt of the poison before going off to face a life or death battle all on his lonesome. But even so, for a disease that killed most people who were afflicted by it, they were all doing remarkably well.

But the poor saps who were forced to look after them, or even just be around them, had a truly thankless job. It was mostly Mira, who had long served as the responsible adult and poor, unfortunate soul to serve alcohol to a bunch of drunkards and have to stay sober while they fought each other and kicked up a ruckus.

While Laxus had been unconscious, it had been manageable. But once he woke up, his team's shenanigans graduated from 'quiet and concerned' to 'loud and unrestrained'. It was quite standard for Fairy Tail, but sometimes even Mira, who normally left the infirmary with sweet smiles and saying 'it's nice to see them feeling better!', could get tired of their nonsense.

"Oh, Lucy!" She pounced, eyes crinkling with a smile that could pass as kind but that everyone in the Guild knew meant trouble.

Lucy froze, and wondered if it was too late to make a break for it. She felt more than saw Natsu at her side doing the same. Instantly, she latched onto his arm with an iron grip. Because if she was suffering, so was he. That's what teamwork meant.

"I'm so glad I caught you!" Mira trilled, seemingly oblivious to Lucy's mounting horror. "Could you take these snacks to the infirmary? I would go, but I'm afraid I have so much work to do for the master," she added apologetically.

Lucy winced. She was pulling the master card. They were screwed.

Slowly, she turned around, a huge grin on her face. "O-of course, Mira! Me _and Natsu _would be happy to help out!"

Natsu heaved a sigh. "Do we have to?" He muttered, but went along with Lucy as she grabbed the tray and marched off with the air of someone going to war.

When she reached the door, she took a fortifying breath. It sounded quiet – a false sense of calm, as the walls were heavily soundproofed, a magical measure taken to protect the sick and injured people who would need rest from the inevitable ruckus outside.

Lucy balanced the tray, then reached for the doorhandle, before pausing. Then she backed off.

"Natsu, you open the door." She ordered.

The dragonslayer baulked. "Me? Why?"

"Because I'm holding the tray!"

"Hold it in one hand, how hard can it be?"

"How hard is opening the door? Come _on, _Natsu!"

"Then give me the tray!"

"No way!" Lucy snarled, gripping it like a vice.

"Urgh, fine!"

Boldly, Natsu shoved the door open, and stepped through. Lucy, however reluctant, was hot on his heels. They were partners, after all. She couldn't let him face danger alone.

Inside was a scene straight out of madhouse. Bickslow was sitting in an armchair – in the loosest sense of the term, as he was hanging upside down, his head and shoulders resting on the floor, seemingly engrossed in a magazine and with his babies dancing overhead around the ceiling, commenting on the rest of the scene.

Laxus was still in bed, but was struggling. Evergreen was sprawled over his legs, possibly in a futile attempt to restrain him. Since she was tiny, it was unlikely to do more than inconvenience Laxus, even in his current condition. Freed was apparently trying to force another blanket on a very unwilling dragonslayer, who already had two and didn't look cold. He did, however, look very done with his teammates.

"Dammit, Freed, I _don't need another blanket!_" He bellowed, hands gripping the rune mage's wrists and preventing him from getting said blanket any closer.

Bickslow's dolls, as ever, shrieked gleefully in their unnaturally shrill voices, adding shamelessly to the chaos.

"_Yeah Freed!"_

"_No blankets!" _

Freed was not to be deterred, however. "Come _on, _Laxus! Just in case!"

"_Come on!"_

"_Yeah Laxus!"_

"NO WAY!" Laxus yelled.

"_I don't think he wants the blanket."_

"_Yeah."_

"_No blankets!"_

"But Laxus – I can feel a chill, and you're still sick-"

"_It's chilly!"_

"_He's sick!"_

Static started jumping around the dragon slayer, ruining Freed's sleek hairstyle. "It's _chilly _because there's a _draft _because _the door is open_!" He growled, his patience visibly draining away like water in a sink. Then he paused.

As one, the occupants of the room froze like a picture, and slowly, without breaking their poses, turned to look at the door.

Lucy gave a sheepish wave. "Hi, guys! Mira sent us with food for you guys. Hope we're not interrupting!" She offered them a bright grin of false cheer and held up the tray as a peace offering.

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Great," he muttered.

Freed schooled his expression into something polite. "That's very kind." He looked askance. "Bicklsow, would you mind taking the tray?"

Bickslow looked up from his strange position. "You're closer, man. You get it."

Freed gave Laxus a testy look, before his eyes darted towards the blanket he was holding. Laxus caught the glance, and tensed, baring his teeth in a silent growl.

"I'm busy." Freed ground out.

Lucy had seen these exact looks in Natsu and Gray's eyes when neither would back down. She gave a high, nervous laugh and wondered how she could excuse herself safely. Not to mention, she was feeling increasingly silly, just standing holding the tray like an idiot.

Freed glanced at the fourth member of his squad. "Ever, could you?"

She looked up from where she was sprawled. "No," she said dismissively, turning up her nose.

Laxus ground his teeth so hard Lucy could hear it. "All I wanted were my headphones, you freaks!" He snarled.

"You shouldn't be up yet!"

"_They're across the room!"_

"You should have gotten one of us!"

"You were asleep!"

The implication that Laxus hadn't wanted to disturb them was sweet and made both weaker wizards hesitate. Only momentarily though, because Laxus seized his chance to shove Freed away, and Freed had to focus on the task at hand.

"Hey, Laxus," Natsu interrupted, stopping the bickering trio in their tracks. "When you're done defeating that blanket, you should fight me! I bet I can win this time!" He gave a bright, challenging grin.

It didn't falter as both Freed and Evergreen levelled twin dark glares at him for even suggesting that Laxus exert himself.

Laxus sighed, and leaned around Freed to address Lucy. "Blondie, just put the damn thing on the floor. Kid, get lost. Actually both of you, get out!"

Then he ripped the blanket out of Freed's hands in one savage motion, balled it up and tossed it at them angrily.

"_Get lost!"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_Get out!"_

"Fine, fine, we're going!" Natsu grumbled, scowling as he backed away. "But – next time, Laxus! Next time!"

"Hope you feel better!" Lucy trilled, trying to dart through the door behind him, and bumping into Levy, who was rushing the other way.

"Oh – gosh, sorry Lu! Hey, Freed!" The petite wizard breezed by, clearly in a hurry. "Would you mind helping me with something? There's a section in my book about rune magic, but it's so old and I want to see if you agree with it."

Freed's eyes narrowed, glancing between Levy and his teammate. Finally, good manners won over any reluctance and he straightened with a sigh, smoothing his hair back down into something normal.

"It would be my pleasure, Levy," he offered, to Levy's obvious delight.

"Great! Come on, then!" She dashed away, leaving Freed to follow at a more sedate, dignified pace.

Lucy turned back into the room, ready to offer a final goodbye and hightail it out of there. But Laxus, apparently spotting an opportunity, was grimacing obviously, either intending to threaten or to plead. She wasn't totally sure, but she thought she knew what he wanted, and he'd had a hard time so she thought she could help him out. And also, she didn't want to be someone who pissed off the likes of Laxus.

She turned to Evergreen.

"Also, I think I heard Erza saying it was great being the ultimate queen of fairies, and she thinks everyone who isn't as strong as her – everyone, then – should bow down at her feet singing Titania's praises," she said.

Evergreen shot up like a rocket. "That bitch!" She hissed, clambering off Laxus' bed. "I have a few things to say about that!"

She was gone before anyone could say a word, leaving Lucy, Laxus and Bickslow with his babies, which had quietened down.

Laxus raised an eyebrow at her. "That was brave. Erza won't thank you for that," he said dryly. Lucy shrugged.

"Yeah, well, she won't be back for a while. Hopefully Evergreen will have found something else to be mad about by then," she said, sounding more optimistic than she felt. Then she gave a small laugh when Laxus fell back with a deep sigh. "Your friends are a little overbearing, huh?"

Laxus scowled. "Nah, they're just scared. They'll back off in a few days," he said, surprising Lucy, who blinked before softening, her lips turning up at the corners.

"Except Bickslow, huh?" She commented, looking over at the mage who had successfully ignored all of this.

Laxus huffed an unamused laugh, and gestured at the dolls floating overhead. "You sure about that? What do you call this, other than constant and total surveillance?" He glowered at the mage in the corner, who stuck his tongue out rebelliously. Laxus groaned. "Whatever. The sooner I'm out of here, the better." Then his eyes flicked back to Lucy. "Anyway, I'm only going to get so much peace, so you should get out while you can, Blondie."

It was as much advice as it was a demand, and Lucy was keen to follow it.

"Sure thing! Bye, guys!"

She finally left, before heaving a sigh of relief when the door fell shut on Bickslow and Laxus arguing.

"What a bunch of weirdoes." Natsu commented from where he was leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for her, much to her approval. Then he tilted his head at her slightly. "Hey, just like you!"

Lucy spun on him and waved a fist in his face. "You don't have any room to talk!"

Angry though he always made her, it was a relief that Natsu was being somewhat normal. Ever since Tartaros, he had been… quiet, Lucy thought. For the first time in a very long time, she wasn't sure what was going through her best friend's head.

Under better circumstances, that might have been a good thing – being able to think like Natsu wasn't necessarily a skill Lucy wanted on her resume, after all – and it wasn't like he didn't have a good reason to be feeling down, but it worried her nonetheless.

Later, when Mira, who to her credit was camped out behind what genuinely did look like a small mountain of paperwork that she was slowly working through for Makarov, sent Lucy back to retrieve the tray, the celestial wizard didn't have the heart to say no.

Braving the madness once again, she was relieved to find that the scene was entirely peaceful. Bickslow was still reading, but he only had two of his dolls out, and they were both quietly whispering, rather than blaring their obnoxious thoughts to the entire room. Also, he had found his way into the armchair proper, rather than hanging out of it like a confused three-year-old.

Evergreen was perched with him, seemingly trying to read over his shoulder but almost permanently distracted by whatever his dolls were saying, because she kept murmuring responses and poking at them with a delicate yet angry finger.

Freed was asleep, curled up on one of the spare beds. It seemed Laxus had finally persuaded him to get some rest. Just as well, because in reality none of the Thunder Legion were back to full strength yet.

Laxus, it seemed, had managed to avoid having another blanket foisted on him. In what was most likely an attempt at compromise, he must have agreed to wrap his signature coat around his shoulders, but he was also asleep. Lucy couldn't help but wonder if he had waited for Freed to fall unconscious first, so he wouldn't have to worry about stealthy blanket sneak-attacks.

Then she gave a small shrug – she had her own team full of weirdos with peculiar eccentricities to deal with on a regular basis. She loved them, but she didn't have enough sanity to handle all of the guild's special cases. In this case, it was infinitely safer to let sleeping dogs lie.

In near silence, she tiptoed over to the tray, offering a small, hasty wave to the only two awake when they looked up. Then she left.

Mira was right. Even at their worst, it was good to have them back.

_xxx_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Warnings for heavily implied Evergreen/Elfman, implied one-sided Freed/Laxus and plenty of drunk and disorderly behaviour.**

_xxx_

_Day 17_

After the whole mess with Tartarus was done, everyone was tired. There had been losses, there had been trauma. And in response to that, it was unanimously and mutely agreed that there was really only one thing to do.

They were going to have a party.

A really big party, too. With more booze than even Cana could drink, music and laughter and just enough to distract everyone from the damage that had been done.

However, there were a few problems to be dealt with first. Namely, there was the lack of a guildhall. Luckily, that detail could be swiftly resolved by sending Mira and Gajeel out as a tag-team duo to find an alternate venue. It needed to meet certain criteria, of course. First and foremost, it needed to be big. This wasn't a party many people were going to sit out. Next, it needed to have a lot (no, really, a _lot_) of alcohol on site. And finally, and this one was important, it needed to be entirely devoid of anything valuable, fragile, or antique. Fairy Tail was in no state to be paying reparations, after all, and some things never changed.

Mira located just the place, and between her hopeful, shining smile, and Gajeel's fearsome glower at her shoulder, the owner caved almost instantly.

The party was held in a local bar, which had emptied itself of regulars when the Fairy Tail crew showed up looking like trouble. And sure enough, most were all well on their way to plastered. There had been too much suffering – the loss of the dragons, Gray's father, Aquarius, the sick Thunder Legion members, Elfman's shame, the Guildhall… everyone shared in it, and tried to help each other.

But this was a night for forgetting and recovering, not dwelling on darkness.

As for recovering, the Thunder Legion, while faring much better, was still not up to full strength. Laxus especially still spent a lot of time asleep and had only been able to work up the energy to attend this gathering for a short while, before retiring. In turn, his team were still not up to fighting yet, and were weaker than usual.

Perhaps it was this weakness that made them extra susceptible to alcohol. Maybe they were all just lightweights. The whys were really quite irrelevant, in the face of _what _they were doing.

Bickslow was draped over the bar, his babies dancing over his head in a circle, occasionally dropping dangerously towards the floor as his magic flagged, chanting and mocking loudly. Evergreen, meanwhile, was swatting furiously at Elfman, loudly calling him every name under the sun, while resting her forehead on her chest. Elfman had his hands hovering near her shoulders, not quite daring to touch her, and looked utterly baffled.

"But – I didn't even say anything!" He exclaimed, looking around for help. Mira just laughed and offered none.

But the main problem wasn't either of them – no. The problem was Freed Justine.

The normally elegant man stumbled his way over to a table, jacket hanging off his shoulders and clutching a glass of something he definitely shouldn't even be thinking of drinking, the dark liquid sloshing over the edges of the glass as he moved.

"The thing is," he started, all but falling into Gray's chair – while Gray was still in it, forcing the ice mage to scramble away, muttering angrily – and as though he hadn't just barged his way into a conversation, as if he had been there the whole time and was just picking up a new train of thought. Everyone at the table, with varying levels of amusement, decided to indulge him.

"The thing, is, Laxus, right? The thing about Laxus. Is his _chest,_" Freed explained disjointedly.

Erza and Lucy choked on their drinks. Gray and Gajeel gaped, Cana laughed loudly, Mira pressed a hand to her mouth as she passed, and Lisanna stared in blatant shock. Juvia didn't react, because to her, randomly talking about how someone's physical qualities was just normal conversation.

Natsu, on the other hand, just tilted his head slightly. "You mean, his lungs or something? He's a dragon slayer, man."

Freed flopped forwards, and only just caught himself with an elbow on the table. Someone as irredeemably and completely drunk as he was really had no place giving Natsu such a disparaging look, but he pulled it off nonetheless.

"I don't _care _about his _lungs," _he said witheringly. "I mean his _chest. _It's just so… so…. _Broad." _

"Oh dear," Erza said, looking beyond alarmed. Everyone else had moved past their initial shock and were caught in a state of horror.

Freed mistakenly and regrettably appeared to take their silence as interest, or perhaps even encouragement. "He hugged us, you know? Which, wow. _Wow_. But his arms, are just so _long_, and he hugged all three of us. But you see, there was enough space on his chest for him to hug more people. I think he could probably have hugged at least two more people. Then it would have been a six-man hug."

Then he eyed Wendy critically, as she approached with a glass of milk. "What are we talking about?" She asked innocently.

"Nothing fit for the ears of children," Carla hissed, shooting Freed an appalled look that went well over his head.

"Actually, he could probably hug three more people if one of them was Wendy. Because she's small," Freed declared, in the manner of someone delivering unexpected good news.

"You're so drunk, man," Gray muttered with a hint of incredulity, shaking his head. Who knew someone as refined as Freed could even get drunk?

"Your head must be an interesting place," Lisanna commented, though her expression didn't reveal whether that was supposed to be a good thing or not. Either way, Freed wasn't done. He downed whatever it was someone foolish had poured him, and slammed it back on the table, empty.

"Oh, no," Lucy breathed, looking at the glass forlornly, her face already a mortified shade of red.

"It's not just his chest though," Freed saw fit to tell them. "His hands are _huge. _I think his hand is as big as my head." He held his own hand up to his face and stared at it with wide eyes, before slowly bringing it to cover his face and looking at them beseechingly through his fingers.

"_O-_kay, I think you've had enough, Freed," Erza said, voice only wobbling slightly – a testament to her incredible strength of character, surely. Freed dropped his hand, and the whole table was mildly alarmed to see his face fall sadly.

"I'm sorry. You all probably already noticed all this anyway," he said, as though this wasn't a niche interest, as if everyone in the guild had seriously considered this before, and he was coming to this epiphany late. As if this was something they had _discussed, _and given actual legitimate thought to.

"Really… _no," _Gray said emphatically. Natsu shrugged.

"I mean… we know he's big. We've _seen _him. And it's one of his advantages in a fight, damn bastard," Natsu objected, in his straightforward way. Everyone turned to shoot him a glare, and he shrugged. "What?"

But Freed latched on, reaching over and almost collapsing onto the table to grab his wrist. "_Yes. _Yes! That's it! Laxus is just so…" He seemed to struggle to find the word, waving his other arm around and almost swatting Gajeel on the nose, before the suitable word came to him. "So _big!" _

That was it for the rest of the table. Lucy let her head thump to the table, Carla frantically tried to cover Wendy's ears with her short arms, Gajeel and Mira both collapsed into helpless giggles, while Gray groaned and ignored Juvia's covert glances towards him. Lisanna, who had turned bright red, looked like she was holding back laughter as well.

Natsu was giving everyone weirded-out looks. "Um? Guys?"

"No!" Gray snapped. "Someone take him home. Please."

"Aw!" Cana laughed, taking another draught. In fact, she hadn't stopped laughing since the start of Freed's impromptu arrival, other than to gulp down more alcohol. "Can't we keep him? I don't think he's ever been this much fun!" She cackled, and waved for another barrel.

Freed was still leaning on the table from where he had reached over to grab Natsu, but his grip had gone slack, and everyone realised that he had practically dozed off.

"He's just…" He murmured sleepily, before his eyes fell closed.

For a long moment, everyone stared at him, as one might stare at a bomb that could go off at any minute. But he stayed silent. Cana shrugged. "Guess he's out. Just prop him in a corner or something. He'll be fine."

Mira giggled, but she was used to being the responsible adult there – or Fairy Tail's closest equivalent, anyway – and hauled his arm over her slim shoulders, wrapping her own around his waist.

"Come on, Freed. Up you get," she told him cheerfully. He woke up blearily, and looked around.

"Oh – we're leaving? Okay. Can you take me to Laxus? I wanna go to Laxus," he slurred.

"Oh, honey," Mira laughed breathlessly. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. You wouldn't thank me tomorrow." She dragged him towards the exit, rolling her eyes good-naturedly at the mages she passed who laughed at her predicament.

"No, I would!" Freed protested, but he could barely keep his feet under him, let alone keep track of his thoughts or pull away on his own. All in all, it was no trouble for Mira to drag him back home.

Because of all the damage done to Magnolia, there were a lot of places that had been destroyed. Many members had found themselves out of a home, so a communal set-up had been arranged. It was little more than a building that they had rented out and filled with beds, but it was somewhere for the now-homeless members to stay until things got better.

Freed was one of them, so she took him there. Thankfully, there were a few people who had already turned in, and she addressed a friendly smile at a young man reading a book.

"Keep an eye on him, will you? He's not feeling very well."

Eyes wide, the wizard nodded.

Because she was a sweet and caring person, she left a glass of water next to Freed's bed, along with a rubbish bin. Then she left, returning to the bar so she could have a good laugh about all this with Cana, and celebrate with the others.

_xxx_

The next morning, the guild was lounging around the bar in various states of misery, suffering and despair – with certain exceptions. Bisca, who had gone home early with her daughter, was lording it over her very hungover husband. Most of the younger wizards were doing well, as they weren't big drinkers. Natsu especially was immune to this sort of thing. The boy could eat etherion, after all – he could handle a few stiff drinks. And Cana was long since used to extreme quantities of alcohol, and was already indulging in some hair of the dog to get through the day.

No one was worse off, however, than the Thunder Legion. Evergreen was sitting in a dark corner, sunglasses replacing her usual specs, and was sipping morosely at a glass of water. When approached, she would hold up a regal if somewhat shaky hand and calmly declare that she did not want to discuss it. No one dared ask what 'it' was.

And Freed…

Freed was uncharacteristically collapsed on a table, eyes bloodshot and hair tangled, a far cry from his usual well-presented self. He probably would have remained there for a long time if he hadn't noticed the guild stirring as none other than Laxus came in.

He didn't look well – he had bags under his eyes, was too pale, and his coat, while hanging off his shoulders as it normally did, was pulled tighter across his chest than usual, as if he was actually using it for warmth.

Bickslow was with him – no sign of his babies today. He probably had too much of a headache to put up with their shrill, annoying voices. He was hovering next to Laxus, close enough to support him should he falter, but also just far away enough to show that he was trying not to let on. The result was impossible to miss, unless you were putting active effort into ignoring him, which was clearly what Laxus was doing, as he stared straight ahead and didn't even let on that he knew the other mage was there.

Bickslow still looked thrilled, as cold indifference and begrudging acceptance were a huge step up from Laxus' old angry scowls and violent rejections. His tongue was lolling happily from his mouth as Laxus resolutely pretended he didn't exist.

Everyone perked up when Laxus made his appearance. That was something that had changed since his return from exile – while before, there had been a certain exasperation that came with his presence, now it was a lot more like when Gildarts came home. Smiles were exchanged and 'Laxus is back!' could be heard all over the room. This phenomenon had become especially marked since his latest near-death experience.

"LAXUS!" That was Natsu, bolting over to the Lightning dragon slayer. When he reached him, he paused, looking him over with a critical eye. "When you're better, you'll fight me, right? I bet this time I can beat you!"

Laxus glowered. "Screw you, kid, I'm-" he broke off in a fit of coughs, and Bickslow inched closer. Laxus subtly edged away. But before anything could escalate, Erza was there to diffuse the situation.

"It's good to see you on your feet. Are you feeling better?"

Laxus' glower softened somewhat, but before he could answer, Cana shouldered her way into the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I got a better question for you, big guy. How exactly would you describe your chest?"

If anyone didn't know what kind of magic Freed used, the best guess any bystander could have given in that moment was teleportation. He blurred his way over to the group and all but appeared next to them, eyes wide and frantic, hangover forgotten in the adrenaline rush.

"Cana, please don't!"

Cana was unmoved. She just cackled and turned back to Laxus. "Seriously though. If you had to pick a word?"

Laxus scowled in bemusement. "What the hell kind of question is that?" He asked, casting Freed a searching look, wondering if he knew what her deal was.

Freed gave a high and unnatural laugh, as what colour remained in his cheeks drained away, leaving behind the kind of pallor that even snow would find alarming.

"Um, she's, ah… referring to your lungs! Your dragon slaying lungs. And their capacity!" Freed gasped.

Laxus blinked, his face the very picture of weirded-out. "Oh…kay."

Then Gajeel muscled his way over. "Also, if you _had_ to, how many people do you think you could hug? At once, I mean?" He asked with a malevolent grin, and altogether far too much smugness.

Laxus edged away from him. "Seriously, why is this guild so freaking weird?" He muttered, before frowning at Gajeel. "Is this some weird competition you and Natsu cooked up? Because I've told you, leave me out of your shenanigans!"

Gajeel laughed. "No, this is serious! Do you think five, or maybe six?"

Freed pounced, launching himself onto Gajeel and cutting him off with a squawk of fury, ignoring Laxus' confused sound behind him.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone today?" He thundered, losing his patience. Bickslow, who was still nearby, just shrugged.

"High spirits? Also, please don't shout, man. My head…"

Laxus shot him a filthy glare, but relented, grumbling to himself. Erza laughed.

"I'm sure everyone is just still in a good mood from last night's revels," she suggested, ignoring the twin glares aimed at her from the two Thunder Legion members within earshot, who were in what was most decidedly not a 'good mood'.

Gray nodded, a smirk playing on his lips as he wandered over. "That's probably right. By the way, Laxus, would you say your hands are bigger or smaller than your head?"

Freed screeched and disentangled himself from Gajeel to throw himself at Gray instead. Erza intercepted, grabbing the back of his coat to protect her teammate.

"_I swear, Gray, if you don't stop talking-"_

"Is your weirdness catching or something? Freed, what the hell?" Laxus asked, a baffled look stealing across his face.

Natsu, who had been watching with bemusement, shrugged. "Oh, they're probably just talking about last night when Freed said-"

But Laxus would not find out what Freed said, since before Natsu could continue Freed turned his way, one eye dark and purple with his magic, a frightening grimace distorting his face even as he hung somewhat pathetically from Erza's grasp like a naughty kitten. He looked unholy.

"_Stop right there," _he growled, and Natsu cut off in surprise.

That was when, to Freed's ever-growing despair, Lucy marched over. "Stop being mean to Freed, you guys!" She ordered, and while he appreciated the sentiment, it did nothing to improve the situation.

"Freed? I'm the one who's getting the messed-up questions!" Laxus exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with everyone today?"

Cana cackled. "Oh, you know. It was just brought to our attention that we really didn't know these things about you, and we decided it was high time we found out. Isn't that right, Freed?"

The sound Freed made was reminiscent of the last bit of air sadly leaking from a balloon, or perhaps a puppy being unfairly kicked. He wondered if part of Laxus becoming friendlier with the Guild included the rest of the Guild becoming more comfortable with all of them, and in turn being happier teasing them. If that was the case, he wondered if it was too late for Laxus pull another aggressive takeover and really go through with it this time.

Laxus was looking from person to person, utterly bewildered, when behind them someone caught his eye, and he sighed, visibly relieved.

"Gramps!" He called, hurrying away from the group. "I need to talk to you! Wait up!"

As their strange mockery and Freed's angry wails quietened behind him as he caught up with his grandfather in the hallway, the old man looked up at him questioningly.

"What's this about, Laxus?" He asked, tone oddly welcoming if a little surprised. But then, that's how he had tended to sound with him ever since Laxus woke up.

"Nothing, I just needed to get away from those freaks," Laxus dismissed honestly, as Bickslow, who had dogged his every step, chuckled quietly. "They're being even weirder than usual. Seriously, old man, this kind of nonsense is exactly why I never hang out here," he grumbled, leaning a hand on a nearby wall for support.

Makarov glowered at him. "So you're just using me as an excuse, boy?" He asked pointedly. Laxus raised an uncaring eyebrow.

"What else are you good for?"

Moments later, he was being kicked back out into the room with all the others.

"Stupid old man," he muttered, looking around.

Evergreen had graduated from sitting quietly to reclining on a long couch, one hand dramatically splayed across her forehead as she loudly bemoaned her fate to anyone who would listen. There were unsurprisingly few people left around her, and Laxus made sure to double check that the ones who were hadn't been turned to stone. If there was one thing Ever loved, it was a captive audience, after all, literally or figuratively.

Freed – Freed was actually sitting nearby, a proverbial rain cloud hanging over his head, covering his face with his hands. Even his little lightning shaped hair strands, which he forever insisted weren't a tribute to Laxus, were droopier than normal.

Laxus hesitated. He had no desire to be involved in whatever had been going on earlier, but on the other hand, historically speaking Freed was a tolerable kind of odd, so there was a good chance that that had been a one-time thing.

He marched over. After all, he had never done anything cautiously in his life, and wasn't about to start now. He reached Freed by stepping over the debris of a table – there hadn't been many fights since everyone was pretty much all fought out after Tartaros, but it had still been a Fairy Tail party. There had been some fisticuffs.

"You alive? And – your normal self?" He asked, frowning. Freed, who apparently hadn't noticed him approach, straightened with a small squeak.

"Oh – _Laxus!_ I… yes, I'm fine. Everything's fine. Please forget everything that happened back there."

Laxus scowled. "Believe me, I'm _trying," _he muttered, taking a seat next to Freed, and pretending Bickslow hadn't done the same on his other side. Having said that, he was well used to be surrounded by his team on all sides, so it was quite easy to relax.

Then he became aware of the small glances Freed was shooting him. _Calculating _glances.

He straightened. "I swear, Freed, if you're wondering how many people I could hug-"

"I wasn't!" Freed assured him, somewhat frantically. "I was… er…"

"I think four," Bickslow interrupted cheerfully.

Laxus paused, before slowly turning to aim his most fearsome glower at the other mage. Bickslow stuck his tongue out unrepentantly.

"What if... er..." Freed trailed off and froze as Laxus swivelled to address the same stare at his other teammate. At least Freed had the decency to slowly turn bright red.

"I mean… I wasn't... I would never wonder..." He mumbled, mortified. But because it is nigh impossible to turn back once you've started down a slippery slope, he made a half-hearted hugging gesture with his arms, before dropping them to his side with a certain sad finality.

Laxus glanced at him, saw his desolate expression, then looked away and heaved a sigh.

"Okay, look," he said heavily, leaning his elbows on his knees. "I'm not good at this, alright? And I don't know what went down last night, or what you said… but, the thing is, you having quirks… that's not a _new thing_. I mean, this whole Guild is pretty weird, just look at Natsu, but it's not like – I don't know how to tell you this, but whatever you said, I don't think I would be half as surprised as you want me to be," he admitted, before turning to Freed to see if that had helped any.

Freed made another sound like a dying animal, and sank further down in his seat.

"Oh," he managed. "I see. That's alright then."

Laxus hesitated. It did not sound alright.

Bickslow elbowed him – much more gently than he normally would. The thought made Laxus want to scowl. "You just called him a weirdo," he stage-whispered. Laxus scowled.

"_And_? Everyone seems to forget, but I literally eat lightning, you're a _soulstealer, _and Ever is a huge bitch ninety percent of the time!" He growled. "So what? I chose you lot anyway!"

When he glanced around, he was relieved to find that somehow, _that _had worked better. Bickslow was grinning widely, and Freed was looking at him with wide, sappy eyes. He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. His team was such a lot of work, and he wasn't sociable enough to understand them all the time.

Laxus slowly stood, trying to look like it was for added gravitas rather than because his internal organs still felt a little like mush. "I," he announced, "am going home. Maybe tomorrow, everyone will have recovered from what I hope is _temporary insanity." _He finished in a hiss, and stormed away. Bickslow hurried after him at what he hoped was a safe distance.

Freed sighed sadly, and glowered at the group of _evil _mages in the corner. "_Thanks, _assholes," he muttered, before deciding listening to someone else's woes would make him feel better. He sat near Ever's feet, and curled up.

"I don't know what came over me. What was I thinking? And where was everyone else? You think you can rely on a team, to make sure everyone gets through a night – Freed, where were you last night?"

"Proving to be a huge failure at life and humiliating myself," he muttered miserably. Evergreen stopped short, and peered at him through her shades. Then she struggled upright so she could pat his shoulder, before collapsing again.

"I can't even remember everything I said," Evergreen admitted. "But he's avoiding me, so I must have gone too far."

Freed didn't need to ask who she was talking about. But she sounded sad, and Freed had never liked that.

"He's probably overreacting," he said.

Ever shot back up. "You're right!" She exclaimed, cheered up. "He's just being a big sissy! Honestly, I don't know why I put up with him when he's like this!"

Freed forced his face into a smile. "You're just too kind," he muttered. Evergreen beamed, and shuffled closer to him.

"You're overreacting too. Whatever you're sad about, it's probably ridiculous."

That… was probably Evergreen being nice. She wasn't very good at it, so all her attempts were always appreciated. Even if they were clumsy at best, and offensive at worst.

"Thank you, Ever," he said, genuinely. She smiled, and swanned off, presumably to either get more water, bully Elfman into talking to her again, or find somewhere quieter to lie down.

This left Freed to ponder his team, and Guild. And looking around, he had to admit that in the grand scheme of things, despite his mean guildmates and his own total lack of filter when drunk, it was still his beloved home.

Then he saw Gajeel and Mira giggling together and glancing over at him. He stiffened, and quickly decided that beloved home or not, precious guildmates or not, he didn't want to be anywhere near here right now. In a flash, he made his daring escape.

_xxx_

**A/N: ****If Fairy Tail had official mugs, I feel like they would say 'you don't have to be crazy to work here but it helps!'**

**As always, many thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed!**

**Also, Elfman wasn't upset at Evergreen at all. He thought he had offended her terribly somehow and was trying to work out how to make it up to her. When she tracks him down and declares she forgives him he is both relieved and utterly baffled. **


	6. Chapter 6

_xxx _

_Day 19_

Things were finally settling down – it seemed like they just might get back to something approximating normal. They still didn't have a guildhall, but the had found a nice bar and claimed it as their own. Thus far, no one had dared complain, so they were taking full advantage. Natsu was still a lot more absent than he used to be – and quieter when he was around. Wendy seemed mostly alright, but it was a well-known fact that some of the guild members were keeping an eye on her. Gajeel…

Well, Gajeel bounced back pretty quickly.

"So when am I getting my song, big guy?" He demanded, a grin slashed across his face as he thumped his tankard down in front of Laxus, who glared up at him.

As usual, when someone approached Laxus with something even remotely resembling a challenge, everyone perked up. It was sure to be entertaining, if perhaps a little short-lived.

Sure enough, a violent smirk stretched across Laxus' own face in response. "And why the hell would I write you a song, dumbass?"

Gajeel gave a short, gleeful laugh. "For saving your ass, obviously."

"Oh?" Laxus raised an eyebrow. "The way _I _remember it, _I_ showed up when _you_ were about to get helplessly murdered, you _begged _me to do something about it, and then I wiped the floor with that demon's tears. _While poisoned. And_ while you took a long breather in the dirt. The same supposedly immortal demon, by the way, that killed itself out of sheer despair after ten seconds of fighting me at my full power because it just. Couldn't. Take it._"_ He crossed his arms and leaned back smugly. "So I have a better question – where's _my _song?"

Lucy, who was sitting within earshot, drew her brows together thoughtfully, and leaned towards Evergreen.

"Is that really what happened in the first fight?" She whispered, a little doubtful even though historically, Laxus never exaggerated or lied about any of his fights or accomplishments.

He had never needed to, really.

Evergreen shot her a glance, tossed her hair artfully over her shoulder and curled her lips up in a smug smile. "Honey, it wasn't a fight so much as one-sided curbstomp. I don't often pity my enemies, but my word, it was a little embarrassing. It even had to ask Laxus to slow down, and still got trashed. How sad…"

The sorrow in her tone was completely at odds with the vicious satisfaction in her eyes and the smile tugging at her lips. She looked positively gleeful.

Lucy made sure to look suitably impressed and chose to refrain from mentioning that the Thunder Legion _sans_ Laxus had been next to useless against it. She was brave, not an idiot. Or mean.

Gajeel scowled, not liking the turn of this conversation. "You don't get a song – you collapsed! I had to lug your heavy ass all the way back to Porlyusica!"

"Not my fault the Iron Dragon Slayer doesn't even lift," Laxus said dismissively.

The table cracked under Gajeel's furious grip. "You bastard…" He growled.

"You know what the worst part about that fight in Tartaros was?" Laxus continued, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. "Knowing how much of a pushover that demon was and still struggling against him. I've never been so offended in my life. And mind you, I was once so offended by things people were saying that I declared war on my guild, took an entire city hostage and tried to kill everyone."

Lucy blinked. Twice.

"I... Yeah. That's..."

Evergreen shot her a cheerful wink. "Laxus is a 'go big or go home' kind of guy."

Lucy cast a quick glance around them at all the other guild members. "How unusual," she muttered, very, _very _sarcastically.

But Laxus had refocused on Gajeel, grinned his fierce grin and continued.

"Besides – at least _I_ collapsed once the demons were defeated. _You _couldn't move when one was coming right for you!"

"I had just finished with one of them! And I do too freaking lift! You – you owe me a song!"

Laxus laughed. "In your dreams, metalhead." He stood, his coat flaring dramatically as he swanned off to talk to Mira, leaving a fuming Gajeel behind, grinding his teeth furiously.

"I really hate that guy," Gajeel grumbled. Lucy leaned over again.

"Do you guys really make each other songs?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Yeah, it's a thing we do."

"Has Natsu written one? If he has, _please _give it to me! I really think I need that in my life!"

Gajeel laughed boisterously. "Hell yeah he has. All the times I've bailed his ass out of trouble? You bet on it. Dumbass can't carry a tune to save his life." He snagged a fork off a nearby table and bit into it. "But he never wrote them down, and I can't remember them – sorry. I actually think I went out of my way to forget his awful singing."

Lucy sighed, but still looked amused. "Oh well! Guess I'll have to make do with my imagination!" She leaned her chin on her hands. "What about Laxus? Does he write songs?"

That made Gajeel scowl. "Once – and not for me. To be honest though, he fills the lyrics with so many references to lightning and electricity, and backhanded compliments, it's almost more of a tribute to himself than anyone else. Kind of impressive, to be honest."

Lucy's smile became slightly more like a grimace. "That's… really not all that surprising, honestly."

Gajeel grunted. "I wonder if I can get Laxus to agree that him saving my butt from Tempester and me carrying him back makes us even," he muttered. "I don't want to write that asshole another song…"

He stood abruptly and marched off, presumably to go bother Laxus some more. Lucy laughed.

Things weren't great, but they were getting there. She had faith they could all come back from this.

Meanwhile, Gajeel was actually wavering. Part of him – the survivor in him, he'd always thought – wanted to stay pretty far away from Laxus. The thing with Gajeel was that he was more than capable of forgiving – it would be pretty rich for him not to be, considering the way he had introduced himself to Fairy Tail and the way no one – not Levy, not Lucy, not Natsu, and not even Jet and Droy (whose beef with him seemed to be about something else) – had stayed mad about it. So he could absolutely forgive.

But try as he might, and with the best will in the world, he just couldn't make himself forget.

He thought it was the raw power Laxus exuded. You didn't mess with that. And besides, lightning was a bad match-up for metal. After all, Laxus barely even had to _aim. _Or maybe it was just something about who Gajeel was as a person. Hard edges, a bit of a loner, tough as they come. Not with a wealth of good experiences telling him to warm up to people quickly.

But still, there was another part of him, the part that he would tentatively identify as the _Fairy Tail _in him, that argued against that. It was the reckless part, the trusting and the bold part. That quality that everyone in the Guild shared, that Salamander personified. _That_ part wanted to go hound Laxus and get all up in his face.

Gajeel wouldn't really know, since he hadn't been around long himself before Laxus threw his Grade-A hissy fit, but there was no denying that Laxus was part of the Guild again, and apparently, more so than he ever had been before. He wasn't totally sure when Laxus had gone from enemy status to 'not so bad really', to the man everyone wanted on their team.

(As opposed to just the Thunder Legion, who had always wanted him on their team, weren't used to sharing and took all the new interest in Laxus with terribly poor grace. Not that it mattered, since there was no way in hell Laxus was ditching them. Gajeel could tell.)

His whole life had dictated that you don't trust people who are stronger than you, since that was just asking to get kicked into the dirt. You stayed the hell away. You watched your back around that kind of person, and you never let your guard down. And Laxus definitely – much to his ire – qualified as stronger.

And yet, when that demon had been coming for him, and Laxus had appeared with a flash of his trademark lightning, coat settled heavily around his shoulders right where it belonged, all Gajeel had been able to feel was relief.

He wasn't used to feeling relieved when people who were stronger than him appeared.

Maybe it was just the situation. Maybe it was because Laxus had strode in like the battle was already won, stepped between Gajeel and the demon, planted himself and _hadn't backed down. _He hadn't even given Gajeel much grief for being useless. He had just taken in the situation, grumbled a bit, and fixed everything.

It was entirely unheard of for Gajeel, since he wasn't used to being the one protected. He was always the cavalry, he marched in and fought. But Laxus had, he would reluctantly admit, saved him.

He wasn't sure, but he thought maybe that right there, what Laxus did in that moment with Tempester when he stepped up, hurt and dying as he was, and defended them all, must be the kind of thing one might expect an older brother to do. The kind that proclaimed to hate being around the other kids, but still spent time with them and played gently with the younger ones.

So with a mean grin curling his lips, he threw himself into the chair next to Laxus' again, startling the Thunder Legion that had regrouped around Laxus as he forcefully joined their little powwow.

"So I think we can at least agree we're even, right? I mean, you would have been toast if I hadn't taken care of that first demon. And I was definitely more helpful than Salamander. All he did was get in the way and pass out. Useless if you ask me."

"No one, _literally no one, _asked you for your opinion," Laxus said, looking half amazed that someone this dense existed, and half aggravated that he hadn't gone away.

But that was what he got for rejoining the Fairy Tail Guild. And really, there were worse things.

_xxx _

_xxx_

**A/N: ****This was mostly written because I find the idea that the dragonslayers write each other songs terribly endearing. ****Many thanks to everyone who read/favourited/followed! I hope you enjoyed! **


	7. Chapter 7

_Day 3 – excerpt _

Later, when the battle would be long over and the Thunder Legion would be recovering, Laxus would decide against telling them a few things. This would primarily be because they would have barely gotten over the bane particle poisoning themselves, but also because they would have finally toned down their fretting and he wouldn't want to risk that starting up again.

He wouldn't tell them Porlyusica's somewhat dire verdict on his health, and would instead reassure them time and time again that he was fine. From a certain point of view, it would even be true - in the sense that this was about as fine as he was probably ever going to get, so he may as well make it his new standard. It's not that he was being pessimistic, it was just that he knew that some things couldn't be fixed. And according to Porlyusica, the state of his internal organs might just be one of them.

He also wouldn't go into details about his fight with Tempester (the second one – the first was a joke, right up until the demon's suicidal attack, when suddenly it became dead serious) because there was no tough and manly way to say 'I felt like I was dying, I _was _dying and I didn't even care, not as long as it meant you had a chance'. They would already know, anyway, and would know him well enough not to say anything about it directly.

He also wouldn't tell them what had happened after.

But that would be days later. On this day, Laxus had just killed Tempester for the final time and was being dragged back to safety by Gajeel and Levy, along with an unconscious Juvia.

In truth, Laxus woke up once after his second fight with Tempester, before he made it back to Porlyusica. He came back to consciousness somewhat unwillingly, his brain working slowly and sluggishly, too distracted by how difficult it was to breathe and how much everything hurt. Even with all that going on, it was still mildly horrifying to realise that he was being carried. .

Now, there were no good options in terms of who he would want to be carrying him. Best case scenario, it was his own team, because even if it was still embarrassing and they would fret and probably bring it up even years down the line, they were his closest friends and he didn't mind showing his humanity a little around them. Besides, he – aw, hell, he cared about them, didn't he? However, since he knew they were all sick with the same poisoning he was, and he had felt like death barely warmed over when he woke up, the odds of it being one of them were slim.

That left the rest of the guild, since he wasn't dead yet. He hadn't managed to open his eyes yet, and it took some serious considering to persuade himself that that was a necessary step. But he didn't know what was going on, and he needed to get back into the fight. There was just no time or room for worrying about things like injuries or fatal poisonings. Opening his eyes was the first thing he had to do before he got to 'getting back up' and 'fighting'. The guild needed him. _Everyone _needed him.

So he opened his eyes.

At first, he still hadn't recognised the person carrying him. The rumble of a gruff voice near his ears suggested a man, but beyond that, it was the long, dark hair tumbling down his shoulders and the sharp scent of iron that really tipped the lightning dragonslayer off. It was so hard to think – his whole body hurt, not only from the poison making its way through him, but also from every hit he had taken, which his already weakened body hadn't been able to defend against in the slightest. His head was pounding, his magical energy dangerously low. He was awake, but he had no way of alerting anyone to that fact – he could barely _breathe, _let alone talk. Let alone move.

There was a girl's voice, as well – he wasn't able to pull his muddied thoughts together long enough to put a face to it, but somehow when he thought of Gajeel, it was Levy that came to mind. He wondered what the hell had happened, to result in this particular situation.

He hoped they were taking his coat to the healer. His team needed that antidote.

So did he. God_, _so did he. He was actually dying, there was no way he would last like that. He reflected bitterly that there was a chance that he had pushed too far this time. That his stupid inherited recklessness that he got from the old man would be his downfall, this time.

But they were still moving – the ground was swaying with Gajeel's walk, and Laxus' vision blurred as Gajeel grumbled something to Levy. If they kept going – maybe they would make it. Maybe they'd all make it.

There was no way, Laxus realised, as his eyes fell shut again, that he was getting back in the fight anytime soon. He had done his part, and now he would have to trust his fate to the others, to Gajeel and Levy.

Somehow, even after everything, it wasn't as daunting a thought as it should have been. Maybe having faith in them was the best thing he could do here.

Or maybe he was just being reckless again.

xxx

**A/N: Just a short piece I probably should have put in earlier in the story, but hey. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

_Day 21_

Any illusions anyone might have held about things settling down and getting back to normal were shattered to pieces when Makarov announced that the Guild would be disbanding.

Not everyone accepted it immediately, but Laxus was one of the first to leave. That had very little to do with his willingness to give up on the guild and a lot more to do with the sharp sting he felt when he considered that his grandfather hadn't told him, or discussed it with him, even though he was family and he had worked _hard _to get back to his home, to be deserving of it again, only for it to be pulled out from under him without a hint of warning. Staying after what felt too much like a slap to the face, or worse, arguing about it and still being rejected, felt embarrassing somehow. And it hurt.

He supposed he could have tried to pull another coup, and make himself guildmaster to keep Fairy Tail alive. There was nothing stopping him, really. He could even have created a new guild, if he had wanted to. Different name, same people, same heart. But it didn't feel right. And besides, if his grandfather thought this was the right move, he must have had a reason. Laxus just… didn't see it himself.

So he had left. Every single member of the guild was competent in their own right, so he wasn't worried about anyone, but he had done this routine before, so he decided to wander, set on leaving Magnolia and finding something to do to keep busy and get stronger. And it had been on that first night, when he set up camp, that he heard the voices.

"I'm just saying, would it have killed him to find an inn?"

"You know what he's like."

"_What he's like!" "Yeah!" "He's like that!"_

"At least he already has a fire going – it's going to be a cold one."

The Thunder Legion came into view, ignoring Laxus' bemused stare as they threw themselves down next to him.

"Thank god – we were worried you would do something stupid like walk through the night if we didn't catch up in time," Evergreen drawled, making herself right at home.

Laxus opened his mouth to speak, but Freed got there first.

"It's not like we've never walked through the night before," he commented, as if they were just having a normal discussion. Evergreen frowned and threw her hands up in the air.

"_Yes, _but we're not in a hurry, are we? If we were, we'd be taking a train!"

Bickslow snickered. "Yeah, let's not, huh? Laxus in a train is never fun."

"That's true. The scenic route it is."

"How did you even manage to keep that a secret from the guild for so long, Laxus?"

Laxus slammed a hand down, electricity shooting out from his fingertips and startling them. "_What," _he growled pointedly, "_are you all doing here?"_

Freed blinked. "We're going with you. Obviously."

"I mean, really," Evergreen pouted, "What else would we be doing?"

"_That's right!" "Obviously!" "We're coming too!" "Yeah!" _Bickslow's horribly shrill dolls chimed in.

Laxus looked at them like they were all incredibly stupid. "You weren't invited."

Freed rolled his eyes slightly. "Laxus, if we waited for an invitation from you every time you did something, we would never get anything done. Besides, we're your team. You're stuck with us."

"For ever and ever," Bickslow agreed with a tongue-lolling grin.

Laxus started to argue, but Freed held up a hand, and pinned him with a serious look, even by his own standards.

"Actually, there's something we've been wanting to say to you, ever since you woke up." He paused solemnly. "Laxus, you're the world to us too. And we know you want to protect us – and we'll back you if you want to get stronger. We'll support you whatever you do. We always have, haven't we?"

Laxus found himself wanting to look away from Freed's intense stare, but couldn't. Evergreen and Bickslow were just as serious, anyway. Bickslow had even removed his visor for the occasion.

"But the thing is, Laxus – we don't want to be _safe_. More than anything, we just want to be where _you _are. And if that's dangerous, we'll face the danger."

Laxus swallowed thickly. "You shouldn't want that," he muttered.

Freed shrugged. "We're grown adults. You can't actually stop us."

"I actually could." He punctuated the sentence with a small flare of electricity, and Freed gave a small, tolerant smile.

"Yes, but you won't."

Laxus considered it. "Guess not," he admitted finally.

Bickslow broke the tense atmosphere with a crazy grin. "Besides, you can't tell us you don't want us along! It's gonna be great!"

Evergreen nodded, and Freed smiled serenely, and despite himself, Laxus found himself huffing a laugh.

"Fine, you can tag along. Bastards," he said, a hint of fondness in his tone that he would never own up to.

"So what's the plan then, Laxus?" Freed asked, tone all business again. Laxus ran a hand through his short hair.

"Well, that's… I was planning on travelling a bit, seeing if I could find work along the way."

"Your whole 'man without an emblem shtick," Bickslow agreed, nodding knowingly, and shrugging with an affronted "what?" when Laxus shot him a dirty look.

"There is not a lot of money to be made in that line of work," Freed commented neutrally, making sure to keep his face completely void of judgement.

It was true though. There was a reason there were so many magical guilds, after all. By far the majority of jobs went to them, and those that didn't were usually morally or ethically terrible and so went to the dark guilds instead. There was an incredibly small niche of jobs that were available for non-guild members, and those were usually there simply because whoever was paying for them didn't have enough money to pay a reasonable reward for the task. And it wasn't as though Laxus had a whole lot of other options, since he had a rather limited skillset – it was an amazing one, but that didn't mean he was suited to anything much other than the type of work people hired wizarding guilds for.

One person could scrape out a living from that kind of lifestyle - Laxus had, for a while, though it hadn't been necessarily comfortable. A group of four, on the other hand, would really struggle.

Freed, being his noble and considerate self, didn't want to sway Laxus' opinion on a path to take simply because it would be harder on them, which was why he was being careful to keep his own opinions on the matter concealed. Evergreen, on the other hand, was shifting nervously, pinning Laxus with a look that somehow managed to hopeful, pleading and demanding at the same time.

"Yeah," Laxus said with a sigh, "it's not gonna work with all four of us. We'll need to join a guild."

"Oh thank goodness!" Evergreen visibly relaxed, a delighted smile crossing her face as she brushed her hair back. "I am not built for a life of poverty, Laxus. I mean, just look at me. I am a creature of luxury."

The rest of the group exchanged dark looks. While Evergreen was exaggerating – they had all had to rough it at times, and Evergreen was just as capable of camping and living off the land as the rest of them – there was absolutely no denying that she very much preferred not to, and had no qualms about expressing her displeasure about a situation loudly and at length.

"In that case," Freed continued, carefully not responding to Evergreen, "we will need to decide which guild to approach. Laxus, do you already have an idea?"

"Ooh! I have one! Why don't we join Blue Pegasus?" Evergreen put in excitedly. Bickslow startled dramatically.

"Blue Pegasus? Why the hell would we do that?"

"Because it's gorgeous there? And they are quite well renowned – not compared to us, of course, but who is?"

"Isn't it basically a host club?" Bickslow interrupted dubiously, earning himself a poisonous glare from Evergreen that he cheerfully ignored. "Besides, I thought we were going to Crime Sorcière."

Laxus scowled. "Why the hell would we go there?"

"Because we were jerks once but we're super sorry about it now? Isn't that the whole point of their guild?" Bickslow replied with a loose shrug. "Besides, you like Jellal, don't you?"

"I mean, sort of? The dude's chill, and I liked Mystogan, but – I'll be honest, he can be pretty intense about the whole repenting thing, and I think we all got that out of the way."

It was true enough – while Laxus would probably always feel a bit bad about the rampage he went on, it's not like he obsessed over it the way Jellal did over his past crimes – probably because the only consequences of Laxus' actions were a bad day for the guild and a few nasty injuries for the dragonslayers that they recovered from quickly. Jellal, on the other hand… well.

"Plus, they're an independent guild made up of criminals, so they don't solve our money issues. Hard pass," Evergreen concluded, flicking her fingers dismissively.

"Besides, it sounds like Jellal will have his hands full with his new members anyway," Freed commented. "We should also consider whether or not another guild would want to take us in."

Laxus frowned at that, drawing himself up. "What's that supposed to mean? Like other guilds shouldn't _want _us? We're _us. _Besides, Fairy Tail has saved the world a whole bunch of times. We've even saved _other _worlds. They _owe _us!"

"I am not sure the other guilds will see it that way," Freed murmured, almost too quietly for Laxus to hear.

"Alright, then where would you suggest?" The lightning mage demanded.

"Lamia Scale, perhaps? They seem like a nice guild. And, they have Jura, so you might be able to train with him," Freed offered thoughtfully.

"Now hold on there," Laxus growled, his tone full of warning, "I'm not _Natsu, _running around challenging everyone I see yelling about being stronger, we clear?"

"Absolutely clear."

"Crystal."

"Understood."

"Right," he said, "so long as that's understood. It would be cool to have a rematch with him though. Just to see if it was a fluke. You know what I mean?"

"Absolutely."

"Totally do."

"Sure thing."

Then Laxus' eyes narrowed. "Wait, their guildmaster is that old lady, right? Then there's absolutely no way."

"What? How come?" Bickslow pouted.

"I've had it up to here with old geezers telling me what I can and can't do with little to no explanation. My own grandfather is one thing, a stranger is pushing it. Besides, I won't be held accountable for my actions if she tries her spinning thing on me. I just won't."

The Thunder Legion considered that, took into account Laxus' attitude towards authority figures, his extended rebellious teenager phase that had lasted until his exile, and the sheer damage Laxus was capable of even when he wasn't trying. Then as one, they paled and nodded.

"So Lamia Scale is out. What's our next option?"

"Saber Tooth?" Bickslow suggested.

"What? No!" Evergreen shrieked.

"I'm not taking orders from the dragonslayer scrubs that Natsu pushed around single-handedly," Laxus growled, and Bickslow laughed.

"Okay, okay, sheesh, I was just kidding. There's no way I wanna go there either."

"So what are our other options?" Freed asked, ever the responsible team member.

The debate went on and on, until finally, in an uncharacteristic move, Laxus tugged at his own hair and exclaimed, "alright, _enough! _Freed, what do we have left?"

Freed sighed, rubbed his eyes tiredly, and said, "well, we've eliminated Blue Pegasus, Crime Sorcière, Lamia Scale, Saber Tooth, Twilight Ogre, Quatro Cerberus, Mermaid Heel, Raven Tail, Titan Nose, Orochi's Fin and Phoenix Grave, as well as a few others I've forgotten. Our reasons include, but are not limited to: members we don't like, members we think we won't like, poor locations, reputations that aren't impressive enough for us, unpleasant sounding names, some of us being men and godawful family members. We also, after _considerable discussion, _elected to disqualify treasure hunting guilds as well."

"What about Unicorn Shine?" Bickslow suggested form where he was slumped back on a backpack.

"That, Bickslow, is a merchant's guild," Freed said dryly.

"Oh, are we not that desperate yet?" Bickslow shot back, and Freed stiffened.

"Now listen here, we-"

"You know, we never eliminated Blue Pegasus!" Evergreen put in brightly, her hopeful tone at odds with the shadows forming under her eyes.

"Yes we did, Ever. It was literally the first one we eliminated," Freed sighed, slowly reaching up to grip his hair as if he could retain the last of his patience if he just held on tightly enough.

Ever sniffed delicately, and he gave it up as a lost cause. "Well, I don't see why we should have! None of you have a better idea, _I _think it would be wonderful and I think we've wasted enough time on this already!"

Laxus groaned. "There are still some options we haven't considered, though," he tried, and Evergreen sneered.

"Well, _fine, _if you're that determined. But I certainly hope you can come up with them before the sun _finishes rising!"_

She pointed dramatically, and sure enough, the sky was beginning to lighten as the sun slowly started to emerge over the horizon.

Laxus groaned, tossed his arm over his eyes, and called out, "Freed, Bickslow? How do you feel about Blue Pegasus?"

"Love it!" Bickslow called back from where he was attempting to shove his head into an empty bag to block out the light. Considering he was wearing a visor, this seemed like an odd choice. "I'm a huge fan. Hosts? Love 'em."

"I'm pretty, I'll make it work," Freed offered, already half-asleep. Laxus sighed, and nodded at an increasingly bubbly Evergreen.

"Fine, you win. Blue Pegasus it is. Urgh."

"_YES!"_

With that victory under her belt, Evergreen rolled over and made a show of intending to go to sleep. Apparently, Laxus' plan to get moving at first light had not survived contact. He reached over to poke annoyingly at Freed's side until the younger mage looked over at him, for once not bothering to conceal his irritation.

"What, Laxus?"

"Still happy you insisted on tagging along?" Laxus mocked, grinning a little meanly.

Freed stared at him for a beat longer than Laxus expected, before softening with a quiet sigh. "Laxus, you've been asking me that ever since I first decided to follow you on a job. My answer will never be no."

Laxus blinked. Opened his mouth to say something. Stopped. "Oh," he finally managed.

"Goodnight, Laxus."

"Yeah."

Even though it was clearly daytime and Fairy Tail was gone, Laxus felt, for the first time since his grandfather made his declaration, slightly better.

_xxx _

**A/N: I have such a hard time picturing Laxus in Blue Pegasus, so this chapter was largely a result of that. Thank you for reading, etc etc!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Day 390_

Laxus stood over the defeated beast victoriously, marking another job complete. He held his hands up, watching the electricity crackle between them. He had long since gotten his magical energy back to full strength – and then some, as he had been getting stronger with every job he took.

Still, he didn't think he would ever get over the _rush_. The purely electric feeling that coursed through his veins when he used his magic.

_God_, he was glad he had it. Sometimes, when he was feeling more charitable towards his past self, he wondered if there was any way he could have possibly avoided getting drunk on power. He just had _so much_ of it.

(He kept those thoughts to himself. They sounded slightly megalomaniacal and very egotistical and he didn't want people getting the wrong idea.)

Of course, that didn't change the fact that physically, he was still very affected by the bane particle poisoning. Not that he intended to tell anyone, since he had no way to actually get better. There was no use dwelling on something he couldn't change.

"Another one bites the dust!" A loud, obnoxious voice interrupted his musings, and he turned to swap a grin with Bickslow.

"Honestly, we deserve to get paid double for having to put up with that awful mayor," Evergreen put in as she jumped down from the cliff she had been posted on for long range support and onto the sand.

"Technically, he didn't do anything wrong. He was simply unpleasant," Freed argued, dusting sand off his sleeves and walking over to join them.

Evergreen harrumphed and crossed her arms. "He implied that we were incompetent! Us! Doesn't he know who we are? And he was _rude_!"

The way Evergreen said it, she made it sound like that was a capital crime. Since she had petrified people for considerably less, there was a good chance they should avoid letting him talk to her again.

Laxus shrugged. Not his problem, so long as they got their reward first.

Though in all fairness, they should probably at least ensure that anything they did wouldn't reflect badly on Blue Pegasus. They owed the guild a lot – although their two guilds had often been allies and had fought together on more than one occasion, Bob had had no obligation to offer them a place there, but he had still welcomed them with open arms and told them they could come and go as they pleased with no pressure. As for the rest of the guild, they were easily accepted, although the atmosphere was extremely different to what they were used to. In Fairy Tail, the most common idea of a good time was downing a pint and throwing a friendly punch. In Blue Pegasus, it was more lounging around the classy guildhall with a glass of wine.

For the most part, they fit in fine at Blue Pegasus though. The hospitality thing was odd, but although Bob had gently made it clear that it was one of the things that Blue Pegasus _did_, he also didn't seem to mind that Laxus in particular did not participate very often, and if he cared that Laxus was rather spectacularly bad at it, he never showed it.

Evergreen had probably taken to the whole situation it best, being one of the world's natural queen bees, and she carved herself a place in the guild with nothing more than a beautiful smile, cutting words and a glass of red in one hand. Freed was also an instant hit, being the real-life fairy tale prince that he was. Bickslow was an interesting case – although he was undeniably odd, he was so unashamedly weird and _himself_ that he was also surprisingly popular. You had to be an interesting kind of person, after all, to get a guild mark stamped on your tongue and still find ways to display it often. In any case, his thick skin meant that any attempt to embarrass or hurt him was guaranteed to fail. Even Laxus, although reluctant, had the strong, silent type with an air of mystery thing down. It worked.

It wasn't all perfect though – Evergreen could be too sharp, as there had been a reason, after all, that she had chosen to join a team like the Thunder Legion, that was made up entirely of social misfits and outcasts that barely spent any time in the guildhall. Freed could be too stiff, Bickslow was frequently misunderstood and Laxus was very uncomfortable with all the attention.

Still, since nowhere but Fairy Tail was likely to be perfect, and Fairy Tail was gone, they made the best of it.

Laxus opened his mouth to remind Evergreen of the necessity of stealth, when he looked up sharply, the sudden tension in his body alerting the others to possible danger. He looked around – there was a group approaching, with strong magical power. It was enough to catch his interest, at least.

But then there was something else – the wind suddenly changing direction slightly, bringing faint scents that he recognized. That was –

"Oi, Laxus!" A voice he hadn't heard in a very long time bellowed. "Long time no see, pal!"

Slowly, like a tiger that has just seen prey wander into its field of view, Laxus' lips pulled up into a fierce grin, baring his teeth. "Well well, if it isn't Gajeel. What brings you out here?"

He addressed a short nod to the iron dragonslayer's companions - old Fairy Tail B, it looked like, with a few others. Cana was there, for once not staggering, along with Juvia and the Strauss siblings. And also Levy, oddly enough, since she hadn't been part of this particular gang originally and wasn't related to anyone who was. On the other hand, going by the way Laxus had seen her interact with Gajeel, maybe it wasn't so strange.

"Hey hey, Gajeel! How's it going? How's Jellal?" Bickslow asked, leaning around Laxus.

Gajeel spent a good few seconds looking perplexed until Evergreen elbowed Bickslow - hard - in the ribs.

"Stop just assuming that everyone who used to be a jerk will join Crime Sorcière!"

"Where the hell else would he go?"

Gajeel growled. "Hey, I work for the magic council now, if you must know! As a custody enforcement officer!"

In Laxus' own defence, he didn't laugh when Gajeel said that. However, he didn't lift a finger to stop Bickslow and Evergreen from laughing, even long after they rightfully should have stopped. In fact, he was entirely content to watch Gajeel get increasingly incensed as half the Thunder Legion doubled over howling.

"Hey! I'll have you know Gajeel made a great law enforcer!" Levy shouted, frowning angrily. Gajeel grinned.

"That's right! And if Levy says so, it must be true, since she made the best wizard cop!"

The speed at which blood rushed to Levy's cheeks surely could not be good for her health. And then Evergreen and Bickslow were laughing for a completely different reason. Cana also joined in, cackling away, and Mira smiled, much to Levy's obvious mortification.

"Alright, that's enough," Freed interjected, as ever the voice of reason and good manners on their team. Someone had to be, after all. "Not that it isn't pleasant to see old comrades, but surely you must have a reason for coming here?"

"That's right," Laxus agreed, staring down at the group, "I'd always sort of expected Natsu to show up one day, asking for a fight or something equally predictable. You lot, on the other hand..."

"Alright, hotshot, we came to assemble the old crew. Fairy Tail is getting back in business," Cana answered, grinning brightly. Gajeel nodded.

"That's right - but first, we're crashing the rescue mission the others went on."

That made Laxus straighten, his brows furrowing. "What rescue mission?" He demanded. He didn't even need to ask which 'others' the other dragonslayer meant.

Gajeel blinked and hesitated for a moment, as if suddenly remembering that he needed to tread lightly, but he forged ahead. "It's your grandfather, Laxus. He's in the Alvarez Empire - there's a whole thing-"

He meant to go on, but was cut short by Laxus' features hardening and whatever humour had been in his eyes dropping away.

"Save it," Laxus snapped, his coat fluttering behind him as he shoved past Gajeel, his heart already beating fast in his chest even as his body went cold. "Why didn't you lead with that? Come on, we need to hurry-"

"Laxus, wait!" Freed called, and it said a lot about the trust and respect between the two that Laxus did indeed stop and turn back to listen to him. "If speed is of the essence, then I think I know the best way to get there. It might be time to call in a favour with our new guild."

Laxus blinked, catching onto Freed's meaning almost instantly. Blue Pegasus' pride, Christina, would of course be much faster than anything else they could reasonably access. He nodded sharply, before turning to the rest of his team, mouth opening to ask them if they wanted to do this, if they were sure they wanted to go back - because there would almost certainly be no turning back after this, once they got involved in whatever madness was coming their way, and even though it wasn't right for him, they did have something here with Blue Pegasus. He wouldn't drag them anywhere against their will, not again.

He closed it again when he met Evergreen's keen smile, the light flashing ominously off her glasses as she toyed with them, and Bickslow's tongue-lolling grin and poorly concealed excitement.

"Let's go save the master," Evergreen said, as confident as she always was, as Bickslow and Freed nodded in agreement.

And for the first time in a whole year, he finally felt like he might have somewhere to go back home to.

"Hell yeah!" He grinned, holding up a fist, as his team cheered. There was anxiousness there as well - fear for master, fear that they would be too late, but also the kind of eagerness and confidence in the face of danger that the Thunder Legion was known for. The others were there too - everyone had come back, not just for the master but also for themselves, for the Guild, because no one had found anything in the year they'd been apart that meant more to them than what they'd had. For that, for everything that Fairy Tail was, Laxus would take his team into battle.

Fairy Tail was back, and he was going home. They all were. Together.

They just had one quick stop to make first.

_xxx_

_xxx_

**A/N: And that's it, that's all from me. I hope you enjoyed, many many thanks for reading this far. All the best!**


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